Training with a side of conversation (Raizo and Shihouin)

[Some time after the Bijuu attack]


Three days had passed by with no change. Raizo sat staring out of the window of his single apartment, watching the people of Konohagakure go by. His grey eyes watched their every movement, taking in the limp of an elderly man and the strut of one the Shinobi of the village. Everyone down there was completely different than him. They didn’t receive stares because of their abilities. They were just normal people, going about their life in a normal way. It sickened Raizo how these people looked on something different with fear and hatred. The people should embrace change instead of turning away from it. Still, there was nothing the fourteen year old boy could do except think and pray that things would change.

The boy couldn’t really explain why he was thinking of things like this. Most of the time he was proud of who he was and held fast to that pride. It was what kept him sane in a village full of fearful people. The only explanation he could have for his thoughts was the fact that he hadn’t slept in three days. All he needed was one nights rest and he would be back to the old, cheerful Raizo. He just couldn’t sleep coming for another day or two and he didn’t see the point in sitting by the window for the next two days like he had for the past three. The Genin had only moved to use the bathroom and eat since he started staring out the window and he knew that he was time he got out for some fresh air.

People moved aside as the boy made his way through the street five minutes later. He needed to go somewhere away from other people. Somewhere he could lose himself in the rhythm of training. That place was the training grounds and so he plotted a course straight towards it. For some reason he was in a lazy mood so he kept to the streets instead of using the rooftops. It was no problem walking through the streets though, seeing how most people knew of him and would just give a small wave before stepping aside. No one in the village gave him fearful stares like he had been thinking of back in his room. Most people enjoyed the boys company. It was the lack of sleep that had made him paranoid enough to think people didn’t trust him because his ability to use a element that was rarely seen. All he needed was to hurry to the training ground and clear his mind.

Raizo turned down a back alley and crossed through it quickly. The training grounds he was heading to was just through a path up ahead. As he neared it the boy started to wonder where Ozunu had run off to. It struck him as odd that he hadn’t seen the rare white tiger in over three days. He missed his best friend and companion since he was young. Hopefully the tiger would be waiting at his apartment when he returned. If not then Raizo would search the village for him. A small grin started to spread across the boy’s face as he got closer to the training grounds. He was already nearing the end of the trail and the prospect of training drove all dark thoughts from his mind.

Rain beat down on the back of Raizo’s neck as he stepped out from under the shelter of the trees and walked towards the center of the grounds. A flash of pure white caught Raizo’s attention just as Ozunu barreled into him. Laughing jovially, Raizo ran his hands through the fur on the top of the tiger’s head and smild. ”Ozunu, where have you ben!? I’ve missed you, old friend.” Smiling, Raizo pushed Ozunu off him and walked over to the nearest dummy. Punches and kicks flashed as he began to hammer it. Sweat and water poured from his face after he had been doing it for ten minutes straight and he walked over to where Ozunu was laying under the shade of a tree to get out of the rain.

”I wonder if we’ll get a visitor out here today. It would make a nice change than being stuck with you all the time.” Raizo laughed as the tiger gave him a gentle swipe with his paw. His companion knew he was only joking. Grinning happily, Raizo lay is head back against the tree and stared up at the water soaked branches above. He couldn’t even remember what had been going through his mind thirty minutes ago. The only thing hat was occupying his mind now was the thought of how beautiful the moisture on the leaves looked.

Out of all the places one would go to for solitude, the training field would normally be very last on the list. For Shihouin, it was number one. He needed to be alone with himself for a while. However, today he wouldn't get that. There was someone already there, and even though he wanted to be by himself, he was glad to see someone else. There was someone there who seemed to hold his weight, who seemed strong. Instantly, he wanted to test himself against a new found opponent.

He wore a black outfit* which matched his demeanor at the time and his long black hair. Two ninja pouches hung from his waist and the black katana on his hips was easy to reach. His steps were obvious, he wouldn't try to surprise another ninja and end up getting caught in a surprise trap. Coming up from behind, he had to make himself known if he was going to be peaceful about the situation.

"They say that even relaxing can benefit shinobi. I sometimes beg to differ, but it looks as if you bring some truth to that statement." He was on the second tree to the left of the stranger, leaning back up under it's leaves as the moisture trickled lightly. Shihouin would attempt to make mutual eye contact with him as a sign of respect with his black eyes, no tricks intended. "Could I ask you a question?"

Shihouin wanted to get a good answer to that question though. Of course he was just probing the shinobi to get into his mind with subtle questions, but it would be fun at least. The response would be interesting to him no matter what the shinobi said, but Shihouin was up to a bit more. He couldn't live a life of a lone Uchiha struggling to become stronger. As much as he looked like he was in the dark** he needed a possible friend to keep him in the light.



*Sasuke's Chuunin outfit. Yeah I know it looks emo XD.
** Referring to the all black lol

Approaching footsteps caused Ozunu to raise from his position on the ground and growl lowly. Raizo turned his head the sound of a voice and looked up to see a boy in a tree. Grey eyes met black ones and Raizo got the impression that the other boy was strong. Ozunu was still growling low in his throat but the young Genin remedied that with a simple pat on the tiger’s head. Looking up at the boy, Raizo cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow quizzically. He didn’t know what the boy’s plan was but he would answer the question if it was worth his time. Otherwise he would just ignore the guy and go back to enjoying nature around him.

”Under on condition. I get to ask you a question after you have asked yours.” Raizo smiled up at the boy kindly. The only place the smile didn’t reach was his eyes. He knew that as a Shinobi he needed to stay unchanged around people he didn’t know yet. Instead of bright and friendly grey eyes looking at the boy it was cold and merciless. Raizo couldn’t explain why his mood was foul but it was. Ozunu could sense this and he whimpered a little.

Standing up, Raizo made his way out into the rain, where he kept his eyes on the boy. It was ingrained in his system to never turn his back to anyone, especially someone he didn’t know. Rain washed over his black hair and down into his face. The scar across his face glistened a bit in the moisture. Raizo cracked his neck and awaited the question the boy had to ask. He just hoped it was a good enough question to deserve his attention.


[sorry for shortness]

Beating around the question with the intent to probe the questioner. Nice, nice. Shihouin would have either done the same thing or just not answered at all. His intent here was not seem threatening or even dangerous at all. He, in a way wanted to make friends with the genin. He seemed to be strong and more importantly, he seemed to be smart. Intellectual depth was always important.

Shihouin laughed though, even if it was just a little bit. Just a sign to show that he roughly knew what the stranger was up to with his response. Would he take the response and fire one back? Maybe. "As much as your response implies your intellectual depth, I can obviously see that even someone like you is capable of ignoring your own intellect. However, it's just my implication that you have any intellectual depth at all, and I can make this claim simply by your actions alone. I ask you a question, you respond with an attempt to get me to return one if you answer. Playful mental banter at the point would be the appropriate analysis." Shihouin looked at him with a small smirk. "But then you do something that totally shifts the preconceptions that I had of your mental sophistication. You walk out in the rain and eye me and crack your neck. What does that imply?"

Shihouin kept going. "I'll tell you. It implies you're looking or ready for a fight. Whether I'm right or not, your response based on my next statement will prove or trash my opinion of you. However, I am inclined to believe that my primary notion of you is rather accurate." Shihouin reached in his pocket after his words and threw a kunai directly at Raizo's face. "We can answer questions later, right?" He prepared himself and began to put together his move in his mind and with his body. He wondered how the opponent would respond.

Every person seemed to react in a different way to things. The man in the tree was questioning Raizo and stating the obvious at the same time. The young Genin just nodded his head when it was needed but otherwise showed no sign that he was listening. His eyes traveled over to Ozunu who was still under the shelter of three. At least the tiger was smart enough to stay out of the rain. Raizo on the other hand enjoyed the rain. It was just something he had enjoyed since he was young. Rain was something that washed away all your troubles or that was how he viewed it. Most people looked at him like an idiot for doing this but he didn’t care. He like the feeling of the cold water rushing over his body and soaking him to the bone. It was another one of those things about himself that not even he could explain.

An almost completely invisible grin spread across Raizo’s face as the guy in the tree said that him standing in the rain and cracking his neck implied that he wanted to fight. This made Raizo wonder if this guy was just looking for a reason to fight. Just because he was in the rain and had cracked his head meant nothing. All it showed was that the boy up in the dream didn’t look at the deeper meaning of things and notice that Raizo was only leading him on. It had been a while since Raizo had had any sort of fun with anyone and even longer since he had sparred another Genin. If it came down to it he would spar the Genin but only if he was forced to. He wasn’t so cocky that he went around starting fights with people he did not even know yet.

Raizo’s eyes caught onto the movement of the boy’s hand just as soon as he started reaching into his pouch. If it hadn’t been for this Raizo would probably have a kunai stuck in his forehead. Quick as lighting the boy turned to the side and watched the kunai passed harmlessly by his face and stick in a tree behind him. Sighing, he turned back and looked up at the boy. It seemed that this Genin had tried to pull a fast one on him. He would just have to show him the extent of what he could do. Spars were always fun for him and this one would be no different.

Since the boy had told him there would be no more questions for the time being, Raizo held back on his asking his question until the spar was over. Staring up the other boy, Raizo noticed that the boy looked ready for anything he did. It was too early in the fight to use any of his more powerful jutsu and he knew he could last as long or longer than the boy. Forming a few handeals, Raizo created a clone of himself beside him and then they both ran in opposite direction, the clone disappearing into the forest of the left and the real Raizo disappearing on the right. Once in the woods, the clone circled around behind the other Genin until he was right below the tree. Running up the tree, the clone launched himself up over the boy and came down with a axe kick aimed for the boy’s head.

Meanwhile, Raizo formed some more hand signs and rubbed his hands together, creating as much friction as possible. The jutsu he had just performed wouldn’t cause much damage in a normal scenario but seeing how it was raining it might give more of a shock if Raizo managed to hit the other Genin with it. Raizo watched from the shadows of the trees as the clone attack. Grinning, he waited to see what the other boy would do. Would he dodge and search for the real Raizo or would he rid himself of the clone and then wait until Raizo showed himself? Raizo waited to see.

Spoiler:

Shihouin kept his senses on his opponents motions while he continued to prepared his. As surprising as things were so far within his battle, Shihouin wanted to continue the surprises. With his current plan in process and his hands underway, he gripped a kunai in his hand as his opponent turned to watch the kunai stick in the tree. Mentally sighing to himself, he continued on with his original plan. No doubt, to his opponent it would appear that Shihouin suddenly had a kunai in his hand.

Observing his opponent making a clone, Shihouin mentally assumed a feint for attack. If he was a D Rank genin, he might not be possible of the Kage Bunshin technique, but there was a chance that he could be worthy of it. Either way, it wouldn't matter. Both caster and clone split in opposite directions. To make sure that they weren't keeping tabs on him while they were moving, Shihouin spread down a cover of a few smoke bombs the same time the opponent made the Bunshin. Using the cover to his advantage, Shihouin moved forward on sturdy material toward a clearing, hidden by the leaves and the branches of the tree. No obvious audible sounds were made as he hid himself among the branches of the trees moving towards a clearing about 20 meters away from his original spot.

The response he wanted from his opponent would show interesting soon. Not only did he seem to have some type of animal companion, he also seemed to have a pretty good knowledge on the forest. Several questions were going through his head. Would his opponent be able to sniff him out even though he'd moved in the opposite direction that Shihouin was now moving in? Did he think that he would let him try to flank him from behind if he could see that he was moving to a position where he could flank? Hmm. He didn't know.

A deathly silence fell over the training grounds. Raizo didn’t move from where he was crouched down at or try to pinpoint his opponents position. Smoke was filling the area and Raizo couldn’t see anything in any direction. It was possible that the other boy was hiding somewhere in the smoke, waiting for him to venture forth. If Raizo were to this he would probably lose the fight due to him not knowing where the boy was. Shaking his head, the boy scanned the smoke until some of it started to clear. There wasn’t a sign of the other Genin but Ozunu was staring at the spot where Raizo was sitting, A look of wonder filled the tigers blue eyes and Raizo sighed. He didn’t want to resort to it but he would probably have to use Ozunu to find the boy.

Moving quickly, Raizo covered the ground between him and Ozunu and crouched down. He was pleasantly surprised to find that no attacks came. It seemed that the boy was either watching him or just waiting for Raizo to find him. Ozunu looked up at the boy and purred as Raizo patted him on the head and whispered to him that he needed to help him find his opponent. The tiger hadn’t been trained in combat yet but he could follow simple orders such as this. Without waiting for anything else the tiger bolted into the woods. Raizo followed close behind him, staying just around five feet away just in case the boy decided to ambush them.

Another clearing appeared not to far ahead and Raizo signaled for Ozunu to stop. The tiger stopped where he was and waited for his companion to join him. Raizo sat on his haunches and watched the clearing carefully. There was no movement at all. The boy found this curious but didn’t see any point in getting himself hurt by going out into the clearing. The other clone he had formed had long since dispersed so he formed the hand seals and created another one. This clone rushed straight out into the clearing and stood in the center. Raizo hoped his opponent took the bait.

Completed. He could attack now if he so chose to, but a part of him didn't want to fight this way. There was no way he could further out his taijutsu or genjutsu at all, so he would have to stick to this sort of fighting to gain the advantage on his opponent. Maxing out at B Rank Chuunin would've been a heck of a lot more useful in his fight, but he was stuck until he could train. Following his opponents movements from his hidden spot in the brush, Shihouin prepared his next move, the one after this one just in case. He was closely keeping track on his opponents mannerisms and especially the mannerisms of normal people with animal companions.

Why was the boy going out into the clearing? No wait. That wasn't it. It was obviously a fient. They were called animal companions for a reason, meaning that they were normally with their masters. Was this a feint or not? Who knew? It could be a double feint but Shihouin had to find a way to properly test it. His plan, his actions from the beginning of the fight until now would play out.

Go. From seemingly no where, a giant shuriken burst forth from the brush, disregarding the clone and targeting the chakra signature in the trees that Shihouin had saw with his eyes. All he need was to flash them on and off really quickly for confirmations. The shuriken bypassed the clone over head and headed towards Raizo with haste. 'Shihouin' popped up from a branch and performed hand signs as he was obviously performing a jutsu. Only a small amount of fireballs came out due to conservation of chakra, but the three Housenka hurled towards their opponent, following the giant shuriken with no lapse in time.

The sound of animals moving in the forest were the only sounds that penetrated the silence. Raizo watched his clone spin around in circles like a dog chasing it’s tail, scanning the area for the other boy. The Genin hidden in the forest shook his head as he watched the clone. It was amusing seeing himself act like an idiot. If it was the real him out there he wouldn’t be spinning in circles. Shrugging it off, the Genin continued to watch as the clone stopped and looked up into a tree. Raizo followed the clones gaze and thought he saw movement but wasn’t sure. Scanning the area with his own eyes, he searched for any sign of another person. No signs presented themselves.

Without warning, a giant shuriken erupted from the brush across from Raizo. The thing passed harmlessly by his clone and made a bee line for him. Shit. Reacting quickly, Raizo dove to the side and rolled into a crouched position. Turning his head, he saw Ozunu moving towards him. Raizo urged the white tiger on, not wanting him to get injured. One of the fireballs that had followed the giant shuriken grazed the end of his tail and set it on fire. Cursing, Raizo moved quickly to the yelping tiger’s side and managed to calm him down after putting the fire out. Glaring out into the clearing, Raizo decided it was time to get serious.

The boys hands moved quickly as he started to forming the twenty seals required for one of his most powerful jutsu. He had almost completed the seals when a hand clamped down onto his shoulder and made him falter. Spinning around, the boy looked into the raven mask of an ANBU. The boy cocked his eyebrow and gave the man a quizzical look. ”You’re to meet your Jounin Sensei over there in those training grounds.” The man pointed in the way he had come from. Nodding, Raizo motioned for Ozunu to follow him.

A sigh escaped the boy’s lips as he walked. He had been looking forward to showing the other Genin what he was capable of. Oh well. Just gotta continue that later. Clearing his mind of the fight, Raizo focused on what he would find when he got to the training grounds. He hoped his Jounin Sensei wasn’t a asshole. Sighing, he hoped he had Genin on his squad that could keep up with his skill. If he didn’t then he would just have to help them become stronger so that they could keep up with him.

Shihouin's tactic had worked as expected because of the fail-safes he'd created mentally. The shuriken was a giant one, but was also not just a giant shuriken. It was also a ploy to get his opponent to move closer to clearer ground, where things were easier to manipulate. The opponent wouldn't notice the shuriken at the bottom, the one hidden in the shadow since Shihouin let them continue on as needed, he would use them later and have his clone deal with the rest.

Since his clone could obviously spot the movements of his opponent as he tried to move out of the way of the Shuriken, he was in a prime position to attack the opponent and his animal companion at close range with a Goukakyuu. However this wouldn't happen. Just to check if there were any other clones about, Shihouin flipped his Sharingan on for a moment and caught a new chakra coming into intercept the fight. What stopped him from completing his move was the power of the chakra. It most notably belonged to a Jounin.

Shihouin listened to what he had to say to Nono, and watched as he turned his head in his direction after Nono left. As scary as the mask was, he was looking dead at Shihouin, dead in his eyes from his hiding spot. How did the ANBU know he was there? Whatever. It seemed like Raizo and him were going to be seeing each other soon, in a more formal setting. The ANBU clipped the wire from the giant shuriken with his hand, and jumped into the tree, off on his own business. He also clipped the other set of wire loosely wrapped around the top of the tree branches. He'd seen through Shihouin's plan to this extent. Flashing a hollow look at Shihouin, he disappeard without a trace, as well as Shihouin did.